1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an absorbent disposable article, such as nappy pants, a sanitary towel in the form of briefs or the like, which comprises an inner layer which faces the wearer during use of the article, an outer layer and an absorbent element arranged between the outer and inner layers. The article has a crotch portion and, located on both sides of the latter, waist portions which surround the waist of the wearer during use of the article. A tape is permanently attached by a portion on the outside of said outer layer, said tape having a tape flap which is arranged in a parked state during use of the article and which can be brought from its parked state into a state of use in order, after use of the article and after folding or rolling together of the latter to form a package, to be usable for closing the package formed.
2. Background Art
After using sanitary disposable articles, such as nappies and sanitary towels, it is desirable, principally for hygienic reasons but also for aesthetic reasons, to be capable of enclosing the used article in a package in order to prevent feces, urine or menstrual fluid taken up in the article from leaking out or causing soiling. When a wearer wishes to replace a used article with a new one, it is often not easy to dispose of the used article in a hygienically satisfactory manner if the wearer is not at home. One does not of course always have a refuse bag for used sanitary articles to hand and, if there is a waste bin or the like, it is not satisfactory openly to discard used sanitary articles therein. Hygienic bags for used sanitary towels are included with packs of sanitary towels, but this is not the case as far as the sale of nappies for infants is concerned, and parents and others who are responsible for a toddler must always be mindful of having a refuse bag at hand.
In the use of a certain type of nappy for infants with tape, which for a time was the predominant type of nappy for infants, it was easy to solve the abovementioned problem of handling used nappies by means of the tape which is used for attaching the nappy to the infant. In order for this to function, it is a prerequisite that the tape on a nappy fitted to an infant can be freed without the tape flap taking material along with it on its attachment surface, which material would make it impossible to use the tape again. A nappy with usable attachment tape can be folded or rolled together to form a suitable package which is closed by means of the tape.
In the use of what are known as hook-and-loop connections which are now common, this type of connection often does not function for closing a used nappy to form a package. In order for it to work, it is a prerequisite that the hook-and-loop hooks can be attached to the outer layer of the nappy, which is frequently not the case.
The use of nappy pants has become increasingly common and in these there is of course no tape or the like at all which can be used for closing a used article which has been folded or rolled to form a package for disposal. It has therefore become usual to provide nappies with hook-and-loop connections and also nappy pants with a special tape which is intended to be used solely for closing folded or rolled-together used nappies or nappy pants. These tapes are positioned on the outside of the article and in the waist portion on the front or rear side of the nappy or nappy pants. The folding together or rolling together of a used article is effected from that end portion of the article which is not provided with the tape, after which the tape flap is raised from its parked position and is attached to the folded or rolled-together portion.
The use of tape for closing a folded-together or rolled-together used sanitary article, such as nappy pants, is associated with a great many problems. The adhesion of the tape flap to the outside of the article is of course dependent on the choice of outer material for the article. If the outer layer is made of plastic, a commercially available nappy tape will attach without problems. However, it has been found that consumers prefer sanitary disposable articles, such as nappy pants, which have a textile-like outside, and plastic is then not an alternative, but use is made of various types of non-woven fabrics which can be constituted by one layer of non-woven or consist of a laminate of the same type or different types of non-woven. Said non-woven fabrics are in turn usually laminated with a liquidtight plastic film.
The tape for closing folded-together or rolled-together nappy pants can consist of one part in the form of a hook-and-loop connection while the other part consists of either the outside of the article or a special receiving zone which is arranged in a suitable place on the outside of the article in order to interact with the tape. However, such solutions are relatively expensive and do not solve the particular problems which embodiments of the present invention solve, namely that the permanent connection of the tape to the outer layer of the article is sufficiently strong.
A problem which has certainly been taken into account but not solved in a satisfactory manner in the manufacture of previously known sanitary disposable articles with special tape for closing used articles to form a package for disposal is that, for safety reasons, the tape has to be strongly anchored on the outside of the article. There is a risk that an infant will work the tape loose and swallow it.
The object of the present invention is to produce a construction which affords such permanent anchoring of the tape so an infant will not be able to work the tape loose from the remainder of the article by pulling the tape flap.
As these products are disposable articles in a fiercely competitive marketplace, the solution must be produced at the lowest possible price. At the same time, other requirements relating to the outer layer of the disposable article have to be satisfied, that is to say it is to be so hardwearing that there is no risk of it breaking during normal use and handling, and at the same time the material is to feel soft and pleasant to the wearer and to afford the appearance and sensation of textile. All these requirements result in it being difficult to find a satisfactory solution.
All known commercially available sanitary disposable articles with special tape for closing used articles folded or rolled together to form a package have been reviewed in order to determine whether or not the tape is fixed adequately safely. In this connection, it was established that not one known article we examined was satisfactory from the point of view of safety. An infant would be able to pull the tape loose and swallow it. The degree of adhesion of the tape depends on the adhesive capacity of the tape, the choice of outer layer on the disposable article and the construction of the tape. In the articles examined, the resistance to pulling in the longitudinal direction of the tape attachment surface is adequate, that is to say the tape performs its intended function well. On the other hand, it is easy to free the tape if the free tape flap end is pulled in the direction towards the opposite, anchored end of the tape, that is to say the tape is rolled off bit by bit.
From EP 0 826 352 A2, a construction of the tape is known, which makes this type of pulling-off, that is to say pulling off bit by bit, impossible. The tape according to said publication has two attachment legs permanently anchored to the outer layer, and the free tape flap end has its attachment where these attachment legs meet and is connected to each of these. If, therefore, pulling takes place in the direction towards the end of one of the permanently anchored attachment legs, no peeling-off of this leg takes place because the force will be taken up in the longitudinal direction of the other leg permanently connected to the outer layer. A tape attachment can therefore not be freed as easily by an infant as the constructions available on the market. The stresses on an attachment according to said publication are greatest when the tape flap is pulled at right angles out from the plane of the outer layer. EP 0 826 352 A2 provides no indication of how the outer layer is to be designed or how great a stress the tape will withstand before it comes away. In EP 0 826 352, it is stated that the outer layer consists of a plastic film, which means that the problems in the form of low tape adhesion associated with the use of a non-woven fabric as the outer layer are not addressed.